A Simple Transaction I

[Rihaku]

The Shattering Ice

Hunger came to himself, gasping. Tremulous shock pervaded his body, his form. His soul shivered as if on the verge of splintering. With nerveless fingers he raised the Forebear's Blade, his hand clutched so tight it seemed as if it would never let go.

He'd resolved, rather than recklessly wait for a mid-battle powerup, to gather all his might now, to push through every contingency since time was of the essence.

To absorb the entirety of the Opalescent Tower, to master fully the Tears of Winter, he'd resolved to draw upon the Forebear's power in full, to plumb the depths of the Blade for all the secrets he could at this moment attain. And there was power there, yes, not merely a river but a flood, a deluge of such scale as to drown mountain and ocean, power beyond all reason, power before which even the bare concept of reason was meaningless as dust. He'd dipped into that flood and stolen away a sliver, a dripping cup-full of power that taxed the very limits of his talent for abduction.

He'd barely survived the enfolding of such power into himself, but his vision of the Forebear still haunted him, even as with a merest exertion he drew the Tower into his Cloak of Sky, even as the Tears of Winter blazed in recognition of worthy might and unerring purpose. Around him his companions rushed in, their faces caught in worry, growing incrementally slower as the Astral storm about him raged. With a monumental effort he quelled it, but the storm within remained, shards of the Forebear's identity percolating through him like molten shrapnel, fusing to bone and essence; power and price were one and the same.

"Are you alright, Hunger?" asked Gisena, eyes wide with concern.

---

[ ] "Never better." - Though the path he was set on was in many ways even more brutal than Hunger's, the Forebear conducted himself with assiduous resolve, a state of unwavering focus bordering on grace. Given the circumstances to which he was subjected, the Forebear should be seen as an example to be emulated, not a tyrant to be scorned.

*Hunger is mostly unconcerned about Mental Contamination from the Forebear. A bit is fine, and a moderate amount not something to get worked up over. A great deal would be concerning, but much less so than that of someone not so thematically connected to Hunger himself in both purpose and means.
*The Forebear was wise to forbear speaking with the Ur-Mother. Her strength was dialogue; her Divine Speech literally the fundament of worlds. In that situation the best course of action was obviously to remove her ability to communicate with him and translate the conflict to the field of his own strength, the martial arena.
*Unlocks [Once and Future] II, which presages even further Forebear lore! You'll need 25 Arete and 2 picks to acquire it.
*Hunger will improve at unlocking Praxis Advancements. Increased appearance% of rare Advancements.

[ ] "Fine." - The Forebear's path has no bearing on Hunger's. They are too different for circumstances to compare, and the lessons of the Forebear's life have little to do with Hunger's current challenges. What analogues exist are misleading; Hunger's Apocryphal Curse makes it difficult for him to truly outscale any universe, whereas the Forebear's monomaniacal focus on skill with the blade was well-suited to handling the tribulations of his Procession.

*Hunger is about as concerned about Mental Contamination from the Forebear as he would be from any random person. It's a consequence to be avoided, a price one must occasionally but regrettably pay for power.
*Hunger won't adjust his current behavior at all. The lessons of the Forebear are inapplicable here, for all that they may mirror his adventures in certain aesthetic senses. To overfit the trajectory of Hunger's journey to the Forebear's would simply be a mistake; aside from the fact that Hunger wields his sword and slew his many-times removed descendent, he has no more connection to the Forebear than to any other historically significant figure.
*This is not a straightforward compromise option, consider the implications carefully before voting!

[ ] "Just a moment." - The Forebear was an unfortunate man of impressive will, subjected to a monstrous regime. That, in turn, made of him a monster, an uncompromising tyrant unwilling to yield even an iota to the desires of any he perceived as enemy. While he can't truly be blamed for the horrific state of mind to which he was delivered, neither should it be remotely seen as something to emulate.

*Hunger will attempt to resist [Mental Contamination]. +Psyche Conflict.
*Hunger will tend to avoid Advancements of the Forebear's Blade more than he has, though he's still willing to take them if they have particular thematic resonance or out of sheer expediency
*Hunger rejects the path of the Forebear, one of absolute conviction and martial strength, and pursues his own path. The details of that path are up to his characterization decisions. He may rely less on swordplay and more on magecraft or dialogue, or be more willing to converse with his opponents to both his benefit and detriment.
*Makes it more difficult to unlock [Once and Future] II. Discounts any one non-Forebear's Blade Advancement of 25 Arete or more by 1 additional Arete, stacking with all other sources.

---

You've attained the Title, [King of Winter]. What is its function? The 7-Arete upgrades need at least half of the total votecount of their parent options to prevail.

[ ] Overwhelm - A surfeit of might overwhelming. Increases Health, Damage Resistance, Condition Resistance, Damage Dealt and Attack Speed by 25%. Modifiers from this source stack multiplicatively with those from other sources, such that this Title offers scaling benefits virtually regardless of how high your base parameters become. Combined, these effects improve the wielder's damage output and resilience to 156%; compared to his pre-Title self the wielder would be roughly 245% as potent in direct combat. Good synergy with Uttermost and Inherit the World; compounding multipliers will set up an especially powerful Refinement of Battle. Damage Dealt modifier applies to the Power of Ruin in All circumstances. Uttermost already increased his Attribute-based damage scaling by a factor of seven, which this will improve to 8.75x, and Overwhelm will also improve his effective Power of Ruin multiplier from All-Defeating Stance to a fearsome 6.25x!

[ ] Whiteout [7 Arete] - The avalanche strength that buries resistance; the howling swiftness of a winter storm. Increases Damage Dealt modifier to +125% and Attack Speed modifier to +30%. 11.25x PoR with ADS...

Or

[ ] Pinnacle - The crowning season, for whom the harvest is laid. The test of adversity by which the year's efforts are measured, the bitter auspice which blankets the land in white and cold. The streams harden; the sky grows pale and clear, the sun a gimlet eye that offers sharp light but little warmth. Winter is the season of icy reason, the bleak unsparing ruler equally beautiful in ascension as in withdrawal. Hers is an austere beauty, but pristine: light unspoiled by color, ceaselessly cutting through. +INT, +++APP, +++++WILL. Willpower and Intelligence are both rare Attributes, pick them up where you can!

[ ] Pristine [7 Arete] - Just as the lesser form of this Title focuses on amplifying the effects of the Tears of Winter, so does this upgrade augment their greater aspect. +.1 Rank [unaffected by multipliers], Praxis Exertion reduced a further 5% (to 1/5th). In conjunction with the existing mental and social Attribute bonuses of the base Title, Hunger will see his out of combat efficacy superbly enhanced! However, even this is unlikely to yield greater strength in battle than a Hunger employing the Overwhelm-enhanced All-Defeating Stance.

---

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[Rihaku]

Eve of Devastation

"Never better," he said tightly.

Like a wildly bucking stallion the power stabilized slowly under him, raw might and tumult as to bend the world like a refracting lens. If his prior Rank were a stone hurled into the Astral, now his power more resembled a mountainside, the waves of its entry fit to drown the unwary. He clamped down upon the vast majority of that power, but what comparative trickle still emerged now sufficed to nearly blast his companions from the earth. This was might only a few levels removed from that of a fully-healed Armament; power enough, in time, to unseat entire worlds from the celestial orrery, to pluck free the stars and send them screaming downwards into the cradle of the firmament.

Gisena shielded the kids from his barely-constrained emanation, though he could see that the effort taxed her mightily, streaks of blood visible upon her crossed arms.

"What happened?" Letrizia asked, her own Pressure flaring and swirling in response to the monumental force of his outburst. The ground around her had been shredded, long strips of stone abraded away by the incidental force of that Astral storm.

"I received a vision from the life of the man who first wielded this sword," Hunger finally said. He told them what he'd surmised of the Forebear's story, how the predecessor had carved out what semblance of a life he could while subject to the horrors of his endlessly grinding Procession.

"That's brutal." Aobaru shook his head. "I hope my Chosen One position doesn't come with a clause like that!"

"That would be a bit rough for just a theme park manager," Aeira smiled reassuringly.

Gisena hmmed. "How reassuring. If strength such as this is yours to bear, then we needn't worry about the outside world at all. But, I'll have to work extra-hard to keep up with you!"

"I'm confident in my ability to handle anything short of a fully-powered Armament," Hunger agreed. "Letrizia, do you know if the denizens of the Voyaging Realm are capable of challenging such?"

"Well, this deep in it may be possible," she admitted, "But they should be pretty rare. Sovereign-level Astrals are very uncommon and can't even reside in the physical plane for long. If the Foremost built this place then, there is a possibility, but you should be stronger than almost everything. Which is crazy considering it's barely been a month!"

"I have to expect my rapid pace of power growth will slow," Hunger mused. "If we can't find challenging opposition, the power of the Crimson to accelerate my advancement will stall, and I've dredged up every ounce of the Forebear's power I can presently withstand."

"Speaking of the Forebear, can we go back to the guy's life for a second?" Aobaru asked. "From the sound of it, he was absolutely nuts..." he shook his head. "Incredibly strong, sure, and cognizant of how he needed to act in order to succeed in that situation, but the cost to his humanity - it's staggering! He did what he thought was necessary, but wouldn't the outcome have been much better if he hadn't provoked the Ur-Mother so aggressively? Ultimately he was unable to save all the other universes under her control."

"She had the power to liquidate them at any time," Hunger shrugged. "And the domain of speech was her strength as the domain of battle was the Forebear's. Mere conversation was sufficient to trap him in her net of causality. Who knows what she could have accomplished with more opportunity to speak?"

"I'm not sure," Aobaru admitted, "But to simply push forward without hesitation in that kind of scenario, with that many lives on the line... I'm not sure I'd have what it takes to ever do that. And I don't know if I want to become the kind of person who even could."

"We can only hope that we're not ever forced into that kind of situation," Letrizia said. "He did what he had to, even if he went a little overboard. What more is there to say?"

"We can do more than hope," Aeira said, with unusual passion. "That is what preparation, foresight and wisdom are for! If such a situation is created or avoided, more often than not it will be as a result of the sum total actions we have taken up to that point, summary reflection of our ability to navigate the world!"

"Well said," Hunger nodded. "Many things are outside our control, but if you never go looking for the strings, you have no hope of finding the puppet-masters. Still, it's a matter of how much energy we devote to this task above others. You're quite dedicated to preparation and organization, Aeira. Even though your martial skills are impressive, you might be best served as a businesswoman or command administrator, rather than an operative."

"Um, thank you," Aeira blushed. "My mother often said the same thing, but my passion is for field work. The world of power structures and organizations is much less dynamic, often to the point that no amount of preparation can overcome entrenched traditions."

"No matter the battlefield," Hunger said, "sometimes you just have to cut through."

The Forebear had been shaped by his inescapable Procession which was crucible as much as a prison. Hunger's situation was not so dire as of yet, though the Apocryphal Curse portended worse if he allowed it free reign. Still, if the Forebear had the opportunity, would he have pursued the joys of life as wholeheartedly as he'd prepared for its travails? And why had the Blade sprung so easily to Hunger's hand, who himself seemed not quite the Forebear's match in unrelenting will?

He shook his head. Perhaps it was simple folly to compare himself to someone so much further advanced upon their respective path. Who knew what Hunger's state would be after 1,050 Geas tasks? The Forebear's prowess and resolve were examples to be aspired to, but Hunger, having taken the name of his Ring, could hardly be defined only by his Blade.

"I don't fully disagree with you," Gisena said lightly, turning to Aobaru. "But time is of the essence to keep the Decimation at bay. There will be plenty of chances to philosophize after we've solved Hunger and Adorie's immediate problems!"

"How generous of you," Hunger remarked. "What happened to crushing rival Princesses under your heel?"

"The first step is to place her in my debt, of course!"

"Nefarious. I'll be sure to inform Adorie of your schemes. Abusing the trust of such a valued diplomatic ally."

"It'd simply be too easy otherwise. And it's all the more debilitating when she knows it's coming!"

"Ahem," Aobaru coughed. "What was that about time being of the essence?"

"Their flirting takes precedence over everything else," Letrizia said morosely. "You'll get used to it."

"Aww, Zea!" Gisena hugged the girl energetically. "You know me so well. I almost can't bear to return our cute Duchess back to the principality from which she hails!"

"I-it's not like I've been complaining about time, is it? We're still well ahead of schedule!"

---

Blade, Mantle and Tears. Equipped with their threefold investiture of power, Hunger sought out a target to sate his Decimation. Consuming the Tower with the Evening Sky had done nothing for his Curse; he had scarce days before the hour of its resurgence was finally due.

Employing his newly-increased Rank, he brute-force regenerated those of Verschlengorge's damaged organs he could, and enhanced the attributes of Adorie's personal guard with the Ring of Blood. Aobaru, Letrizia and Aeira would stay behind in Nilfel, ensconced deep within the lines of Adorie's Royalist Legions, while he and Gisena would deal with the matter of the Decimation as swiftly as possible before returning to prosecute the campaign against the Lord Protector. Until then, all they had to do was stay alive. The disappearance of the Opalescent Tower had surely already been noticed, and it would be folly to assume the Lord Protector was not already moving against them.

With Aobaru nearly doubling the strength, speed and resilience of each of Adorie's soldiers, and Aeira cloaking her operatives, the Princess of Nilfel assured them that her enhanced legions would suffice to hold off the Lord Protector for at least a day or two. Not the broadest window of action, but it was what they had.

Hunger selected the first target to appear on the Decimation Lens, a monstrous beast of blue that registered as a blot on the Artifact's interface.

"For it to be that size at such a distance, the creature must be huge," Gisena observed. "Several orders of magnitude larger than the Rotbeast, even! Are you truly prepared for this, Hunger?"

He closed his eyes meditatively. "My strength now vastly exceeds even the Tyrant of my previous world. If this Blade's former wielder truly was his Forebear, no matter how far removed, then the power of his lineage has waned enormously. Yes, we'll pursue this one. A monster of that size could cause cataclysmic destruction."

"How cute! I thought you were done being a hero?"

"I've got to get back into it if I'm to teach Aobaru. What about you, Sorceress? No one's paying you to come with me."

She grabbed his arm in hers. "Could a girl abandon you after all we've been through? And you gave me this wonderful Ring!"

He focused, and the Cloak of Sky expanded around them, as vast and all-pervading as the heavens overhead. And just as all the Voyaging Realm resided under that same Sky, so could its master claim every inch as his dominion.

The Mantle of Evening enfolded them completely, and when it receded they stood on a beach, the Cloak falling limply around his shoulders once more. Its power of transportation was dissipated for now, but would return with the next fall of evening.

"Going fishing again?" Gisena teased, working her toes into the sand. She looked out towards the waters, face scrunching cutely in curiosity. The dusk sky above was peach-pink and violet, but as it arched downwards to the ocean it was truncated by a towering wall of blue. "Such a deep blue horizon. Unusual for this time of day..."

"That's no horizon," Hunger said, tightening his grip on the Blade. "That's a fish."

Gisena tilted her head, eyes now emerald as she examined their quarry. "Mystically, it almost resembles an Armament in nature, though much less refined. Some form of Foremost technology. Be careful, hun!"

"Have we ever won a fight by being careful?" Hunger smiled. "We've simply got to kill it before it kills us. The only way out is through."

There were realms and circumstances where the lessons of the Forebear were wholly inapplicable, but this was not one of them. This was merely a monstrosity of unimaginable scale, epochal distillation of the very labors the Forebear had honed himself to address.

Cut through. Even if it could not be cut. But the physical force was no more the Cut, than the mere act of piety was its sought-after grace.

The Forebear had cut so deep that he'd awakened to the principles of the Praxis in his art of the sword. Only by drawing upon the same could Hunger hope to slay a monster of this size before it obliterated him. This was no Rotbeast or Tiller Wurm, where he would be free to rampage around the innards of the monster with impunity; if it was Foremost technology as Gisena suspected, he had to expect the same unnatural speed as Verschlengorge itself, speed elevated by Rank to levels forthrightly impossible for its size.

---

The vote update will be up tomorrow! The winner of the last vote was [X] Never Better with [X] Overwhelm - Whiteout. Though behind somewhat in votes, Overwhelm completely blew out Pristine in terms of omake power! Preliminary tactics for the Armament Fish - a very large, fast, strong & tough Fish with high Rank, though the latter is not nearly as much of an issue anymore - would also help Hunger.

If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider subscribing on Patreon! Subscribers receive lots of patron-exclusive content, including early updates, timed exclusives, Discord roles, and bonus chapters. A huge thanks to existing subscribers, the amount of support has been breathtaking! Another timed exclusive coming soon!

If you'd like to discuss the quest in real-time or just chat with the questers, you're welcome to join us on the AST Discord! We encourage substantive posts still to be made in the thread, and shitposting within the Discord.

 

[Rihaku]

You guys do now have enough Arete to purchase All-Defeating Stance if you'd like. It would certainly help in this fight, though it's actually not as well-suited to this combat as some other effects, as the Armament Fish is large enough that even enormous increases in defensive potency won't stop it from oneshotting Hunger's flesh body. On the other hand, now that so much of his power is derived from Rank, the penalties from Second Stage are much less relevant, meaning that Hunger can effectively fight in ghost form against some opponents!

Still, the +++++All Stats and vastly increased Ruin damage are both still highly relevant against the Armament Fish, especially with Overwhelm - Whiteout. It would give you a vector of offensive power that's at least somewhat effective against the Fish without relying on the Artful Thorn and its swiftly escalating cost per battle. Do you wish to become All-Defeating?

[ ] Purchase It - Even a moderate increase in win% is advisable to acquire at this juncture. Plus, it'll be useful against the Lord Protector as well, arguably far more so than against the Armament Fish itself.
[ ] Don't Purchase It - It's not truly fundamental to Hunger's success here and this way you may save enough Arete to pick up Pillars or Once and Future II from the picks of the Fish! You've got to capitalize on picks when they come, since Hunger is now so strong they are increasingly rare!

Hunger and Gisena have the whole day to deal with the Fish before his teleportation recharges, so there are a few strategies that could be pursued. A straightforward charge with Refinement of Quickness, Artful Thorn and Rank 10.4 Blood debuffs is the obvious tack, offering tactically simplicity that allows Hunger to focus on execution while remaining a highly effective and flexible plan. On the other hand, surely there are many who have attempted to halt the Fish's civilization-wrecking rampage and have failed for lack of raw power or allies. It may be worth looking around and seeing if Hunger's Rank can scrounge up some relevant allies for this fight... even a single additional combatant could serve as a distraction or help absorb one of the Fish's deadly attacks.

Hunger is fairly confident that the Refinement of Quickness will allow him to dodge any of the Fish's attacks that he can perceive, though being struck by anything but the most glancing of blows is likely still an instant Second Stage proc. It's only his utterly massive Protection and Rank, plus magnified Health, that allow him to tank even a glancing blow at all, considering the beast is many quadrillions of times his mass. All-Defeaing Stance increases the margin of error here but not to the degree that Hunger could actually survive a solid blow.

[ ] Cast Line - The monster's thrashing will cause even further apocalyptic damage in the event of a prolonged engagement; to save the most lives now Hunger must simply slay the beast as fast as possible. Attack directly with Artful Thorn and hope that continuous Thorn activations cripple the monster enough for Hunger's blood debuff to immobilize it, then begin the arduous process of ending its life. Benefits substantially from All-Defeating Stance.

*Does pose a significant risk to Hunger's life, though he gets "two" attempts with Second Stage. Finally relevant again!
*With the attentions of the Armament Fish focused on Hunger himself, Gisena's still highly-respectable stats should give her reliable odds of surviving the tidal waves to come.
*Gisena's can't really offer much assistance beyond a potential emergency ult and informational support, at her current level of power
*An Apocryphal proc could worsen the situation substantially, but this method ensures the smallest window of time for the Curse to act.
*Just shoot Cut Him.

[ ] Bait and Tackle - You've got twenty-four hours before you can return to Adorie's kingdom, might as well make the most of it. Spend your time in preparation; Hunger will search for allies while Gisena attempts to craft a one-use Artifact relevant to downing the Armament Fish. The potential exists to find one or more suitable allies whose combat relevance or utility abilities could drastically improve Hunger's odds of survival, though this comes at a cost in both time and lives. Leaving the beast alone for one day longer will result in countless territories buried under its catastrophic floods, its mere incidental movements raising tsunami waves capable of blotting out the sky. The Voyaging Realm is almost unimaginably vast, and the scale of this monster still comparatively tiny, but on the level of individual nations it still represents nothing less than a deluge of Biblical proportions. Even one day spared of its ravages could be billions saved.

*Likely to improve your odds significantly, though this does yield one further day for the Apocryphal to act, if it was going to
*No real downsides to Hunger personally beyond the uncertain prospect of Apocryphal risk, and the knowledge that he might have been able to save more. Still, with the beast having already slain tens of billions, one could argue that maximizing the chances of its downfall come before the lives of a single day's reaping.
*Utilizes all the assets and resources Hunger and Gisena have available
*You can summon an additional ally with Supreme Enclosure as well, if desired. >90% chance of a favorable outcome, but there is the outside risk of an incompatible denizen. Could theoretically be a vector for the Apocryphal to intervene.
*If you choose Bait and Tackle, there may be opportunities to spend Arete on either Gisena's Artifact or the nature of the allies Hunger encounters, if any. On the other hand, All-Defeatng Stance offers +++++Int, Wis, Wits and Luck, which would all help in the search...
*You may also decide to spend your Bait and Tackle time directly assisting Gisena instead of searching for allies. If Hunger gives it his all, she may be able to forge a relevant Artifact worthy of inclusion into his panoply, such as the actual Rod of Ages!

[ ] Attempt Diplomacy - This is truly reckless, giving up the element of surprise and the crucial first Artful Thorn hit to instead attempt to communicate with the monster. What do you hope to achieve, given that Hunger must kill it to sate his Decimation? And yet other, less dangerous targets do exist, and the Fish if subordinated would be an invaluable asset, not just militarily but from a scientific standpoint... the development cycle of an embryonic Armament could yield tremendous insights in the fields of magical, Astral, and Foremost-related research! [+Letrizia, +Gisena if successful, --Aobaru, -Aeira if Decimation occurs for substantial length of time]

*If it truly is a newborn Armament, this is an event which is very nearly unique in the span of the cosmos. To simply kill it for Curse mitigation would be a tremendous loss.
*You may be able to resolve this situation peacefully.
*Opens up possibility of enhanced lore upcoming.
*That would still leave you with a Decimator target to hunt. Hunger would likely be forced to undertake whichever of the Lord of Stalks or Draining the Sovereignty (Territorial Waters) he finds first.
*If diplomacy is unsuccessful (unknown%), significantly (but not catastrophically) worsens your chances in the upcoming fight.

 

[Rihaku]

Titanomachy

Blue.

Endless, tireless blue. The pale ragged blue of the sky and the steep pounding blue of the waves and the raw, limitless blue of the Fish as it surged and heaved and raged against its purposeless squalor. And him, alone and unwashed at the heart of the beast - sweat and brine and monster's spittle covering him like a mucus coating, a deep sea cocoon - alone and untouched by the wrath of the Fish his residence, a meditant alone in the eye of the storm.

How long now had he been entombed in the blue? Even when he surfaced there was hardly any escape from it. But that was only fitting for the Blue Swordsman.

He'd desired power, once. Such a nebulous goal, ill-conceived. What was power? Was it the thrill of domination, the joy of foes crushed and bleeding before you, corpses like ripe tangerines splattered upon the fetid earth? Was it glistening fear in the eyes of one's counterparts when one brandished the sword and was followed by the Blue? Was it the secret, shameful joy held close to one's heart in walking amongst others and knowing with absolute certainty that you were their better, in ability if not in worth?

Or was it merely safety?

It had been a long time since he'd felt safe. Not since the limits of his System had been exposed, its threadbare omniscience revealed for a farce. Did that mean he was bereft of power?

If the System couldn't be trusted then neither could its inputs, and that left him in chaos. His only recourse had been to grow, to hope he could outpace this threat as he had every other. That was the promise of the System, that with effort came achievement, a corollary too-often broken by the twisting chaos without.

He'd been fortunate. He'd stumbled into power beyond his furthest estimates, out here in the blue-on-blue-on-blue. Here was the nexus and the corollary to the magic of Color that he wielded, the solemn thrumming singularity of its emergence, and merely by residing in its shadow he cast net aloft and harvested towering swathes of power.

The System hadn't enjoyed that. He'd felt it strain against the pressure, interfaces glitched and jangling, all but capsizing beneath the load of the power he'd accumulated, dense as caged atomics in every finger and sinew, well beyond the remit of its Level Cap. There was no science to this, no dance of computation and leverage, none of the reasoning which he'd excelled at and which had drawn the System to him. There was only naked, ceaseless power, pulled towards his grip with the tiresome ease of water flowing downhill, and himself growing fat and rotted in gorging upon it.

But what else could he do? Stop?

It was not in him to surrender so blatant an advantage, no matter how unsportsmanlike it felt. It wasn't as if he was above hacking, so long as there was no chance he got caught. Most people would, if the stakes were high enough, though few dared to admit it.

Bearic understood patterns. They'd called him gifted at patterns, which was false, for people were comprised of patterns and he wasn't gifted at people. Too much recursion, too many feedback loops, uncertain information, hidden states, layers of counter-signaling and willful delusion, paradoxical reasoning: it wasn't possible to reason about people in the abstract with only the mind of a person, you could only rely on empirical experience and that was so time-consuming, there was no leverage in that-

He wasn't gifted, but he was specialized. What he specialized in, were those patterns which could be formalized, abstracted into the theatre of consciousness. Those things which were reasonably straightforward to perceive, he perceived. He could see the world as it was, and act accordingly. That had sufficed.

It had sufficed to bring him into the highest echelons of competition, before the strictures of fate had deposited him here, before all his dreams had come true. The System unfurled, the Blue attained; Beth, Esterarc, Seralize.

And yet there were no happily ever afters, even after their first Mission was done. There was only life, stretching forth without limit, until it was brought to an end.

The Hungering One had ended Seralize, and with her all hope of Esterarc's true salvation.

Who was the Hungering One, and why did he defend the Devouring Giant? Why was he - it - the only thing his System could not Assess? How had he slain a Companion designated by the System?

Her slot still lay fallow on the side of his interface. Seralize von Esterarc. HP -37/2569.

She was dead and buried, without even a completed quest to show for it. No mechanism had appeared to return her. Was he crippled in her absence, lacking an external perspective he could trust? By the power of the System he'd mastered the world without, but the people within it were as ever an enigma to him. He'd tried searching for other Companions but had found none, as if the System itself were admonishing him for taking poor care of his first. Perhaps his Companions would have lead him to a less foul and tedious source of power than this, if he'd managed to protect them.

After escaping he'd raged at the unfairness for a time. The System had reneged on its promise. He abided by its rules, followed the quests it issued, and in return it segmented reality for him, organized it into orderly encounters from which concrete patterns could be extracted and employed. He'd held up his end of the bargain, so why had it faltered then?

Perhaps it had simply lacked the strength. Entropy could be decreased in a finite space only at the cost of increasing its total sum. Any temporary order would hasten the final ascent of chaos. Perhaps they'd simply been unfortunate enough to encounter the embodiment of that reality. A greater power. How was he to know the limits of that power, if all of his methods offered nothing to perceive?

The Hungering One. Chaos incarnate. The appearance of a nondescript add, but who twisted reality by its very presence, shattering the System's careful precision to leave Ber uncertain and reeling.

Thus, the degradation of his interface bothered him little. The slow disintegration of the System, was merely evidence that he was growing beyond its permissible bounds, growing to a level that might be capable of avenging his companions.

Still he had much further to grow. Not until he'd exhausted every facet and seam of the Blue would he be content to face the Hungering One, content in the knowledge that he'd done all that he could. Only then would he have the equanimity to face death - or the unknown - with grace.

There was a great ripping sound, a tearing as if through vast layers of flesh. It was followed by a dull roar from the Fish around him, sound so immense that seemed to engulf his entire world. He marshaled the Blue, casting it as a mantle about him, and tore free from the cocoon of brine to face this interloper who had wounded his home.

No one was there.

He looked up. Through the fathomless mountains-deep flesh he could see the faint line of the open sky above, a cut that had penetrated all that fearsome musculature to stop finally at this esophagus-cave within.

Ber clenched his fist. A level-appropriate enemy? The System displayed only static and anarchy, meaningless characters shifting across panels. No help from that quarter. To so wound this Fish of the Blue would require serious power, strength physical and magical beyond the limits of ordinary magi. With his mastery of the Color he could level cities with a gesture, yet it would not be wise to overestimate his strength. The depth of this enemy's cut had shown them capable of the same, but offered little data on the upper limits of their capacity.

Still, he could not meekly hide away. The Fish of the Blue was the source of his strength; he was akin to a barnacle feeding parasitically off its exuded power, and to abandon it now would be to abandon his own progression, for the System was too bereft to offer any concrete aid further. If this enemy was a specialized hunter, lacking general strength but unusually effective against monsters of this size, then maybe Bearic stood a chance. If, however, they were truly the Fish's equal in strength, then retreat was the only prudent path.

He would scout out the foe and see if they were something he could overcome.

Ber scrambled up the interior walls of the Fish and peeked his head out of the cut their attacker had made. He moved with utmost speed, scarcely a blur to the senses of magi, utterly invisible to the unaided eye.

And yet, as soon as he broke the surface, he was flying, spinning, plunging into the sky, spray of blood half-obscuring his vision as he tried to turn and found his neck unresponsive. Finally he saw his headless body fallen limply below, arterial spray rapidly discoloring the form.

The Hungering One stopped next to his corpse, nose wrinkled in distaste, and looked curiously up at him. There was faint recognition in that golden, glistening eye.

It had two arms now, its sword unbroken, shining with a colder, more-piercing shade of Blue. The shock of its unfurled Pressure was like nothing he'd experienced before, a bomb-blast of abrupt terror as sudden and total as a child's first peal of thunder. He summoned his Color about him, hoping wildly that it could transport him downwards, somehow stitch him back onto his body - but it could barely exist in the wake of that Pressure, let alone exert his will.

Ah, he thought finally. He'd never stood a chance.

Blue the sky and blue the sea and blue the titan thundering below, and white the froth of the wrath-tillered waves as they slapped uselessly against the titans warring. The Fish of the Blue was dying. Spinning still, he fell further now, and struck the cold salty waters of the ocean below.

The Blue was receding at last. Darkness instead claimed him. This, at least, had been of a pattern he could understand. The Hungering One was a Secret Boss, and Ber had not been prepared.

Game over.

---

Get R A N K E D son

Vote update coming tomorrow.

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[Rihaku]

The winning vote was [X] Cast Line with [X] Purchase It.

Well, that was surprisingly easy. Hunger has defeated the Armament Fish without taking any major Conditions, and Gisena wasn't harmed either! The benefits of tactics and rolling well! Or perhaps the Forebear's might was simply so incredible, as to neatly trivialize even so formidable an opponent as this... There's a reason it was named the All-Defeating Stance, after all, even if Hunger can only grasp a modest fraction of the dimensions-spanning iteration employed by the Forebear. So long as the core principles are consistent, rising to the Forebear's level is only a matter of execution and time.

Too bad about that Ber guy. Now you'll be hard pressed to figure out who exactly hired him to kill Versch. Maybe it was related to Letrizia's hypothesized betrayal incident, the suspiciously timed Astral onslaught that left her stranded in the first place? Access to less lethal tactics may need to be a consideration. Edeldross alone is a bit too weak given Hunger's total power level now.

You've received 3 picks from the Armament Fish. You have about 14 to 15 Arete. If you manage to generate enough Arete for Once and Future II / Pillars of Creation, I'll add it to this selection, otherwise you'll have to pick from among these options!

[ ] Stranglethorn - You'll only be one pick away from Stranglethorn! It costs 4 picks total, of which you can spend 3 to buy most of it piecemeal due to Core Panoply.

Age and treachery made flesh.

The might of beasts is not the only province of the ring Hunger. It bears witness to a deeper and elder power as well, the strength of root and stem that bleeds life from the earth itself to thrust upwards towards heaven. The might of oaks, ancient and thousand-ringed, which crumbles stone and blunts steel, which repels the wind and absorbs the tide, which stands unscathed even in the face of heat and fury. That juggernaut stubbornness like a gnarled fist: the power to push through problems with patient, unyielding strength, to break them down and see them crushed beneath you.

Defining Advancement - You may currently have no more than four Defining Advancements.

Increase by 20% the value of all Rank +s
Double the value of Strength and Constitution +s
Double the value of Willpower +s
Reduce by 20% the value of Agility +s
Establishment: By committing meaningful resources towards a given context, and staking out a solid position, you slowly but increasingly accrue power and influence within that context, becoming ever-more inescapable and impossible to dislodge.

*Grants no immediate power since you're not actually getting Stranglethorn!
*You need Stranglethorn to get Sword in the Stone. Sword in the Stone is really good, not just because Hour of Reckoning is broken - it has massive utility for the Geas task.

[ ] Sharpening the Blade [4 Arete] - Hunger will spend picks and Arete on an efficient package of some notable Advancements he has yet to acquire - Honing, Opalescence and Iridescence. Would be great to pick up Opalescence now that you've absorbed the Opalescent Tower, and Iridescence's extension of Evening Sky-sourced Protection to apply against almost all hostile magics would make Hunger even more resistant to esoteric effects. However, note he does already have All-Defeating Stance granting ablative protection via the Power of Ruin.

Still, he does possess overwhelming offensive power via Artful Thorn, so bringing his defenses further up is certainly worth considering!

*A good degree of immediate power, and lots of value for your picks.
*Save up for Pillars, OaF II, etc

[ ] Forebear's Blade: Fisher King [12 + 12 Arete] - The hand that steadies the rod, rules the world.

Or perhaps that is not always so. If not, then make it so.

Fish, even if it cannot be fished.

Costs five picks total. One of the Defining Advancements that could have been unlocked by [Feat: Crown].

*Double the proc rate and mitigation effect of Huntress' Moon against fish-based targets
*+50% to All Stats for purposes of fishing. Only works on literal fishing.
*++Wisdom, +Int, +Wits, +50% Rank growth
*Wait for it
*+10 Accursed Favor
*Holy fuck
*Grail Keeper: At any time while within a land he rules the wielder may take on the Decimator's Affliction into himself. For the duration, the Decimator's Affliction merely poisons the land, rendering it barren and and its residents infertile, rather than claiming lives. Territories not under the wielder's rule are not affected by this mitigation. This causes him to suffer the Affliction of Leprosy and the Mutilating Affliction for the duration.

*No immediate power, costs a lot of Arete. You are only required to spend 12 at this juncture.
*Immensely powerful Decimator's mitigation, allowing it to be weaponized against opposing polities
*May be used to immediately unlock Sword in the Stone in lieu of one of its requirements

[ ] Hasten Signs [19 Arete] - Hunger will hasten his acquisition of the Fourth and Fifth Empyreal Signs from the Cloak of Sky. This has the potential to grant immense power and capability, or access to a versatile effect somewhat greater in utility than the Second and Third Signs.

Hastening the Fourth Sign costs 1 pick and 7 Arete.
Hastening the Fifth Sign cost 2 picks and 12 Arete.

To qualify for a hastened sign, Hunger must meet minimum levels of Int, Wis and Cha, and slay an enemy of appropriate type (the enemy this time was Bearic, Grandmaster of the Blue). Exceptional levels of Int and Wits can also discount the cost of hastening. These discounts if they exist have already been applied this option. You may also get Signs for free from Adorie's research, but that would take a lot longer. This way she can work on Signs even further above these in power!

Example Sign:

Fifth Sign: Armor of Midnight [Evening Sky] - The Cloak of Sky is the heavens and all their intervening vastness unfurled, yet that which was the Shroud of Evening has not forgotten the form of its predecessor. He who dons the Armor of Midnight becomes nigh-invincible to harm or ill, for the aegis of his panoply is as vast and unconquerable as the universal void.

Returns now the Evening Sky - not merely of twilight, but of all darkness, king!

Casting time: 10 minutes
Duration: 8 hours
Cooldown: 1 week
Reagents: If below Rank 11, burn .1 Rank, otherwise burn .01 Rank.

The wielder is nigh-invincible. Treat his Protection as effectively infinite for purposes of defending against any form of harm incapable of destroying the entire universe, otherwise treat his Protection as increased by one thousand. Non-damaging hostile conditions and unwanted esoteric conditions have their impact mitigated by three orders of magnitude or by a degree appropriate to the effect if it had attempted to target all interplanetary space within the entire universe, whichever mitigation is greater. This grants effective Stage II mitigation of all Curses while active. Returns the appearance of the Cloak of Sky to that of the Evening Sky while active; the disguise function of Skyveil may not be used for the duration.

*As you can see, Fifth Signs are typically very powerful, but with steeply commensurate costs. Armor of Midnight requires set-up time and is not spammable, but means Hunger when prepped becomes an unyielding juggernaut in the face of all but the rarest of assaults.

 

[Rihaku]

The Rage of War

Hunger went still as the beast lay dying around him, its floundering mass sinking slowly into the endless depths below. Out here in the deep ocean were the only waters vast enough to contain the "Armament" Fish, whose immense height from belly to topfin forced it to treat even ordinary seas as meagre shallows. It did not beach against the land; continental shelves beached against it. The grinding procession of its movement against such plates sent thunderous quakes through the earth, flesh mauling stone with world-turning force.

Blood, cerulean and red, coursed endlessly from its quietly steaming corpse, congealing into thickets of wobbling goop the size of lakes and swamps, pock-marks of color against the wide, pale, pallid blue horizon that was its unmoving corpse. This was no isle but a continent, spanning full into the distance as far as the eye could see; every ridge a mountain range, every declination a shore.

Would it rot away, Hunger wondered, leaving only calcified remnants, a land of barren bone too vast for the waves to engulf? Would some aspirant colonizer chance upon this land, a thousand years hence? Would they dredge the marrow out from its cavernous ribs, opening tunnels a kingdom's width in size, the white curve of bone overhead so huge and so high that it served an adequate substitute for the sky?

For all its tempestuous rage, the beast had been surprisingly easy to slay, Hunger's plan proceeding smoothly apace. Using the same technique he'd employed against the Rotbeast, he'd crippled the monster in a brief initial exchange, then slowly dismantled it over the course of hours.

Little else lived out here, all slain by the kinetic force of the Fish's thrashings, the apocalyptic storm of its death-throes. Hunger could sympathize with its desperation, the unflinching grasp on life which resolved to weather any eventuality, so long as it could survive. Without such a mindset he would have fallen to the Tyrant many times.

He blinked. It had been a while since he'd thought of the Tyrant, or that man's depredations. A consequence of his discarded memories, or was he himself moving past the shadow of that enemy, a year departed and a lifetime away? And if so, was that something he even desired?

Of course it was foolishness to allow oneself to be defined by one's foes, yet the campaign against the Tyrant had forged so much of who he was... in many ways it was the foundation upon which all his further developments had been made, and perhaps it ought not surprise him that a foundation steadily built-over would become more difficult to perceive.

Time enough later to dwell. He stepped forth and strode across the waves, speed of his forward progress crafting a carrier-pocket of pure velocity that skimmed the waters without plunging beneath. What sparse islands dotted this part of the Realm were long buried beneath the Armament-Fish's movements, and it was many long seconds before he finally reached the landmass where Gisena awaited him.

She had moved safely inland, reclining upon a mountain peak whose grasses were stippled with snow, above which a rainbow aurora fluxed and blazed as if in rivalry to the sun.

"Any interesting magics?" He asked as he slowed, arriving at a modest pace so as not to blast away the mountainside. He had still not fully exerted control over his portion of the Forebear's might.

"Nothing that would interest Lord Hunger, the great and powerful," Gisena said perkily, springing to her feet. "It's an interesting supernatural phenomenon, but nothing we can use."

"That's King Hunger to you," he said sternly, turning to survey the lands beneath. He'd done what he could to alleviate the collateral damage, but the devastation was still immense. Large swathes of former shoreline had been all-but erased, dragged beneath the waves with silt streaming like tears. Entire ecologies lay broken or transformed even in the receding wake of the tide. Rivers had ruptured their banks, become impromptu estuaries, while wide hills and mountains now served as tiny islets in a sea of debris. Entire forests had been ripped free of the soil, trees like spilled matchsticks strewn across the sea-poisoned earth.

"It's bad," Gisena said lightly, tugging on his arm, "But the Fish caused much worse than this every day! Don't go moping that you 'have to get stronger' after all your recent power-ups!"

"I do have to get stronger," Hunger replied unambiguously. "The Apocryphal Curse never truly relents. Besides, weren't you just saying that you'll have to work harder than ever to keep up?"

"It's hardly fair!" Gisena smiled. "You've got your power of Progression and all that. Cheating isn't something to be encouraged."

"So being a genius doesn't count as enough of a cheat. Has the mighty Princess Allria finally met her match?"

"Hmm, is that a challenge? You just might end up ruing the day, mister Hero." Affectionately she poked him in the cheek.

"Hmph. You couldn't even kill the Hero of your world, what makes you think you're qualified to take on mine?"

Gisena pouted. "How cruel! I'll just have to see that you get your just desserts."

Tapping the Forebear's reserves and assimilating the Opalescent Tower had finally left him mightier than even his prior self, and not just by a modest sum. He and the Tyrant had vied for the fate of just one world, a single planet warred-over for a decade. Now he had slain a living continent in the span of an afternoon. And the beast had been no unresisting slab, but a monstrosity whose force and speed served to propel its immensity at truly threatening speeds. Why it had housed the Blue Swordsman was something of an enigma, but Hunger had been too heavily occupied to investigate the matter before the man was slain.

Still, that was one thing fewer to worry about in the grand scheme.

He pondered the likely shape of the future. They ought depart for the Human Sphere soon - the ostensible purpose of their journey had been to gather strength in preparation for Ber, and now that the man had been (somewhat underwhelmingly) dealt with, there was no true reason to stay. As soon as the Lord Protector was destroyed and Nilfel stabilized, they would go.

They spent the remainder of the time performing what humanitarian rescues they could - few had survived in the tidal zone, but farther inland the damage was merely catastrophic, and there were a few opportunities to heal or extract the wounded. He could not yet turn the enormity of his full Rank towards such a purpose, but even the sliver he did release was more than sufficient for most purposes. In the end they could save only a meagre fraction of those the Fish had claimed, but he contended himself with the knowledge that its rampage had been halted indefinitely.

Night came, and they departed back to Nilfel. Again wielding the power of the Cloak, the trip was a simple one, swift and uncomplicated.

They arrived to a camp in chaos, soldiers routing in confusion as columns of spellfire hammered the Legion from the sky. Around them the land was scarred and despoiled, the corpse-ridden earth drenched with blood, soil a sickly green. Above wheeled horrid shrieking monsters, their feathered wings rippling the Astral currents, disgorging plumes of white-violet flame as they wheeled and strafed and dove. The air was thick with ash and the stink of viscera; the blood-wine sunset lent a murderous pallor to the battle. It was clear they were losing badly.

Hunger unfurled his Pressure immediately, repelling the brunt of that aggression, and Aeira rushed quickly to his side, accompanied by a contingent of shieldbearers surrounding Adorie. As his Rank was fully asserted the battle around them stilled, a rapidly-expanding bubble of quiet which smothered all opposition. The beasts above croaked and plummeted, blood boiling from their veins, as the barrage of spellfire struck his aura and was repulsed. What embers of resistance still remained soon guttered, flattened beneath the leaden wall of his Pressure.

"What's going on?" He shouted, as Gisena fired a lance of Nullity upwards to intercept an errant attack-spell.

"The Lord Protector has declared our actions to be high treason," Adorie said hurriedly, her face pale and pinched. "We had expected as much, but didn't think he would marshal his forces with such speed! Many of the lords who would have been our supporters have been cut down by assassins or forcibly detained. The others are besieged in their own estates. He's used some form of spatial rift to gate in the Expeditionary Legions from abroad, his most loyal core of support. And your friend-"

"Verschlengorge was kidnapped!" Aeira blurted. "Letrizia is all right, harmed but not terribly. Aobaru is with her. It was all my responsibility, my cloak was not good enough..."

"Nonsense," Hunger said. "You've been growing in skill at a superlative rate. No one could expect more. Now tell me what needs to die."

Adorie pointed outwards, to the west. "The Lord Protector has set up a forward base protected by the Fifth, Tenth and Thirteenth Legions... Um, it may be too much to ask, but could you spare the lives of the soldiers as much as possible? They are not truly corrupted, only misled, and they are my subjects still!"

"We'll see," Hunger said noncommittally. "What's the situation with Versch?"

"The Lord Protector stole him," Adorie said. "We believe it was sorcery operating off of a twisted principle of equivalent exchange, enhanced by the power of his Patron Spirit. Because you absorbed the Tower, he was able to somehow lay claim. Letrizia was left behind when his magics abducted it. She fell but her Pressure mostly protected her. She's recuperating in the field hospital now."

"To separate an Armament from its pilot through the defenses of totality, even if diminished..." Gisena mused. "That's very formidable magic."

"Are they using Versch against us?" Hunger could still feel his bond with the Armament, though it was stifled and weak.

Adorie shook her head. "Not that we can tell. But we don't know his location, either. If the Lord Protector attempts to use him as a hostage, we have little recourse."

An Armament, even injured, wasn't easy to kill, but if the Protector was capable of abducting one right out from under its pilot, Hunger couldn't rule out the possibility. He frowned. His power was superior, at least in a direct contest, but which target to prioritize first? Rescuing Verschlengorge was critical, but the Lord Protector had already demonstrated how dangerous he could be, if given time.

---

The winner was [X] Fisher King by a slim margin! Omake power very nearly carried the day, if not for a last minute surge in votes for King...

Man, the Lord Protector keeps rolling hot! And unfortunately Adorie's forces rolled very poorly indeed. One of the risks of concentrating so much power into a single vessel. Still, now that Hunger is here he can salvage the situation, right? I wonder what Hunger should do now...

If you enjoyed the chapter, please consider subscribing on Patreon! Subscribers receive lots of patron-exclusive content, including early updates, timed exclusives, Discord roles, and bonus chapters. A huge thanks to existing subscribers, the amount of support has been breathtaking! Even more content is coming to Patrons soon!

If you'd like to discuss the quest in real-time or just chat with the questers, you're welcome to join us on the AST Discord! We encourage substantive posts still to be made in the thread, and shitposting within the Discord.

 

[Rihaku]

The situation has been made clear to Hunger. What now to do?

[ ] Crush Them. The Lord Protector has deployed the Tenth Legion as a vanguard force while the remaining two act as his guard. Descend upon the Fifth and Thirteen Legions like the fist of an angry god. Hammer them with such waves of Pressure as to rival the destruction of the Armament-Fish, grind them into dust until they break or yield, then slaughter the Lord Protector unless he gives his unconditional surrender. [-Adorie], +1 pick

*The strength of Hunger is in direct conflict. Translate this battle into the arena of your strength. Do as the Forebear did before you; show this insidious schemer that the hour of reckoning has come.
*Unfortunately you won't be able to spare anyone with this method. Time is of the essence. Millions of soldiers will die. Maybe if you're lucky they'll break and rout before they're annihilated, but the discipline of Nilfel is legendary. Each of their captains would be a nation-bestriding hero outside, and their champion-generals are veritable forces of nature.
*Their auxiliaries and support beasts are far less heroic and unlikely to withstand the power of Holy Shit. They at least should flee quickly.
*Take care that the Lord Protector does not flee himself. Speed will be critical to the execution of this plan. Still, so long as you are able to reach him, this plan should work. The All-Defeating might of the Forebear ought more than suffice to overwhelm his convoluted defenses. No other plan offers such adamantine reliability; there is a reason the Forebear eventually decided to simply cut through all opposition.
*If the Lord Protector forces Hunger into a no-win situation via hostage-taking of Versch, Hunger is likely to call his bluff. The consequences of that could be severe, but ultimately it may be healthier to think of Versch as already lost when the Lord Protector captured him. Rescuing him would be a bonus, but eliminating the threat of the Lord Protector is an existential priority, and Hunger's rate of power growth makes it entirely possible for him to, one day, personally supplant a fully healed Armament in pure might. [---Letrizia] if Versch dies because Hunger decided slaying the LP was more important.

[ ] Rescue Versch. Whether or not the Lord Protector is aware, Hunger has a fundamental connection to Versch that allows him to track the Armament. Given his opponents' competence so far, it would be unwise to assume that Versch is merely hidden and unguarded - in fact it's highly likely that any rescue attempt would be a trap, and there is still the outside possibility that the Lord Protector is spying on or outright spoofing Hunger's connection somehow. Even so, Versch must be rescued. Deploy with Gisena to track down Versch and hope that your wide array of powers & defenses will suffice to deal with whatever the Lord Protector has guarding him. [+Letrizia]

*The Lord Protector has put Hunger in a bad position; to secure Versch without negotiating with the Protector, he must walk directly into a trap.
*Still, given Hunger's divination immunity and rapid increase in strength, it's unlikely the Lord Protector was fully prepared for an invader of Hunger's capabilities.
*Hunger of course is not especially prepared for the Lord Protector's hidden cards either, though he does have powerful general immunities from the All-Defeating Stance and Gisena, and immense Rank with which to sway the tides of chance.
*If you can successfully rescue Versch (and make sure the Lord Protector has no means of repeating his feat), then wiping out the Lord Protector's armies should be a fairly straightforward, though not trivial, endeavor.

[ ] Oblique Means. Consolidate the allied legions and summon reinforcements via Supreme Enclosure. Time is critical, but the benefits of an allied summon outweigh the substantial costs of inaction here. Some Astral being capable of re-capturing Versch or nullifying the Lord Protector's abilities would provide immense utility. Also, by proceeding at a slower pace Hunger can honor Adorie's request not to slay too many of the opposing legions. With Hunger's immense Blood Rank, it should be entirely possible to nonlethally incapacitate even such heroes as these with the Ring of Blood, given enough time. [++Adorie]

*Gives the Lord Protector even more time to prepare and/or execute his shenanigans
*But you have shenanigans of your own, and staying your hand against the legions of Nilfel could be a public relations coup for those Legions on the fence about the whole matter.
*Gisena might also be able to whip something up, though an hour is not a lot of time to work.
*The Lord Protector has you outgunned on the esoteric front, but that need not always remain the case. Given your greater direct strength, you need far fewer force multipliers than him to secure victory.

[ ] Shock & Reason - The reasonable thing to do now that you are forced into this position would be to negotiate with the Lord Protector, but it would be wise to amply demonstrate the wisdom of discourse beforehand. This plays out similarly to Crush Them, but Hunger will make at least a moderate effort to avoid excessive casualties. [+Adorie] The goal is to display Hunger's overwhelming power and improve the terms of negotiation, making it clear to both parties that either can inflict irreparable harm to the other. Therefore, why not reach an accommodation?

*Leverages Hunger's battle power alongside his immense CHA and Holy Shit, as well as Gisena's superhuman APP, INT, and MAN, fully utilizing the broad gamut of their abilities.
*Hunger lacks any way to enforce the honoring of any such agreements reached, especially in the long run. The Lord Protector seems capable enough to understand the consequences of defection, but who knows if he won't pull out another trick to neutralize those as well?
*Still, stripped of his Legions the Lord Protector is merely one very capable archmage, that should theoretically be entirely within the abilities of Nilfel (a nation with countless powerful mages) to police.
*You would have to decide what outcomes you're okay with. The Lord Protector surrenders, disarms, is kept heavily monitored with his abilities magically suppressed and turns the country over to Adorie? Reasonable security, but he'd be unlikely to agree to such unless he truly believes that death is imminent and unavoidable otherwise.
*It could theoretically be possible to turn the Lord Protector into an ally, if somehow you could come to trust each other... though the wisdom of such an agreement would be questionable at best, those ruled by self-interest are often predictable.

---

However you decide to confront the Lord Protector, will you take Adorie with you? Close proximity to her bloodline further strengthens you against existential diminishment, allowing Praxis techniques to be spammed more frequently. A roughly 15-30% increase in Praxis usage should be possible - a considerable advantage, as the Refinement of Quickness has immense utility in all scenarios above. She is also a fairly skilled negotiator with superhuman mental and social attributes, deeply knowledgeable about your enemies; many Legions may hesitate to take the life of their Princess even if they are otherwise staunchly loyal to the Lord Protector. Even the Lord Protector himself may wish to avoid erasing the Mirellyian bloodline from this earth...

However, you'll have to keep Adorie alive, and while she does possess impressive Rank for her age she has underwhelming physical Attributes and virtually no combat skill. Certain actions undertaken can also improve or worsen your relationship with her, highly relevant if you're to trust her to run your domains after departing for the Human Sphere.

[ ] Take Adorie - She'll be helpful, and Hunger has power to spare. Trading some combat effectiveness in certain situations for greater Praxis usage is very tolerable given the slew of utility benefits her presence could bring. [Baseline +Adorie, modified by her impression of your actions]

*Potential to increase Adorie Power by up to ++ and Adorie Progression by up to ++
*The power of the Mirellyian bloodline is immense, but she's received little training in how to tap into it, her parents having been slaughtered while she was very small. In theory, it should awaken during times of dire need...
*Her EFB is really strong. Just saying.

[ ] Don't Take Adorie - Defending the life of another is an inherently complicated proposition and you don't want her judging your actions anyway.

*Why introduce additional variables? There's much to gain but Hunger isn't really in dire need of more advantages here.

[ ] Custom Arrangement - Maybe you'd like to only take Adorie along for certain plans. If so, you may create a write-in stipulating exactly when you'd like to bring her versus not, and if Hunger (and the voters) are convinced, he'll do it! Does not benefit from the inherent +Adorie of the Take Adorie option, but does have the potential to improve her stats.

*You'll have to lobby for it.

 

[Rihaku]

Vendetta

Hunger frowned. Losing Verschlengorge was a possibility they'd only briefly accounted for, the Armament of all things considered more than capable of taking care of himself. Their lack of knowledge of the Lord Protector's true capabilities was crippling them in this contest. Without any data on the limits of his sorceries, it would be risky to proceed further.

The Cloak of Sky had given him dominion over sorcery, and its theoretical power over magic was as vast and encompassing as the heavens themselves. The prototypical arcana it'd provided were the means by which he'd transported himself and Gisena to the location of the Armament-Fish. Could he draw upon those predecessor magics to bring forth a solution to this matter? Conjure some Astral Entity with knowledge of the Lord Protector?

Focusing his Pressure, he channeled it through the Cloak of Sky as he had the Ring, when first he'd drawn forth those tatters of shadow into the Mantle of Evening. Pulled through that vestment it was no anglerfish lure, but the maw of the abyss itself, the Void Above like a reflecting pond mirroring the void below.

It was uncertain, even at so mighty a Rank as his, to achieve exactly what he sought with so vague a methodology. The Cloak flared around him, encircling his impromptu ritual grounds, a halo of rushing darkness that formed runes into the earth. Directed by his will it enacted some primordial sorcery that matched the form of his desires, the stars of its pattern arranging themselves in the forgotten language of that magic.

He felt some internal reservoir deplete, possibility itself caged and reified; it would be some time before he could call upon the Cloak for arbitrary tasks beyond this. Teleportation and Astral Summoning were the sigils it had adopted, and boons of a different flavor were now past its remit. The constellations, once set, could not be trivially shifted.

Had he been careless, to exert his mastery so totally, adhering the Cloak to a purpose towards which it was now fixed? But with its basic abilities unaffected, he did not find himself overly perturbed by this. For its power over sorcery to be employed, it first had to be delineated, and a tool unused was as good as useless.

Even with the Cloak facilitating his spell, the process of summoning was neither quick nor easy. It would take an hour or more to call forth a being of appropriate power and stature, runes of the sigil like a starry net interposed between the Astral and the maw of his Sky, harmlessly sifting and releasing those beings inadequate to his purpose, ensuring the spell's potency was not expended on an irrelevant subject.

"I'm going to summon something that can help deal with the Lord Protector," Hunger said, hand upraised to stabilize the array. "It'll consume the majority of my Pressure and attention, so fight defensively until I'm finished."

"Understood!" Aeira said, intercepting a straggler before its suicide charge reached Adorie. "Your arrival has cleared out most of the enemies in the vicinity. We should be able to hold on from here."

Adorie bowed. "I apologize for relying so heavily upon you, Hunger. I'm usually a bit more useful than this! When you go to confront him, let me come along to help. I can lend my Pressure to your own to bend matters in our favor."

"I'm not one to turn down assistance, but you'll be expected to take care of yourself," Hunger said. "If all of you are in danger, I'll prioritize saving my companions over you."

"That's only to be expected," Adorie said simply. "I wish there were more I could tell you of his capabilities. The Lord Protector has always been a mysterious figure, and his Patron Spirit even more so. I'm afraid none of my followers have successfully infiltrated the inner circles of his... cult. He is a powerful sorcerer, but even the laws of magic don't seem to apply to him!"

"Sounds like a challenge for my Nullity!" Gisena said happily. "I've always wondered at the limits of the Maidengrace. Perhaps here it will finally meet its match!"

"Magic for me, but not for thee?" Hunger raised an eyebrow. "I see Lady Nullity lives up to her reputation."

"It's Princess Nullity now!" Gisena corrected him.

"Don't make me regret giving you that title."

"Do you regret not doing all that paperwork by yourself? Perhaps I should defect to a nation where my services are better appreciated."

"Ah," Adorie raised a hand. "I'm sorry, but Nilfel cannot afford bad relations with the Elixir Kingdom at this time. We're too dependent on our military alliance at the moment..."

Hunger grunted, feeling strength drain rapidly from his limbs. "Someone get Aobaru over here. He needs to refresh our Vigorflame augments."

"On it!" said Aeira.

---

The mask and robes of the Lord Protector weighed heavily upon her.

Her present form was protean, a protoplasmic mass of cells with strength enough to core mountainsides; and yet, they weighed heavily still, for the fact of their heft did not arise from mere mass. Finally the last of her advisors departed her command tent. She slumped quietly in relief. Dispelling the transmutation she assumed her true form. A strand of hair fell across her eyes, candyfloss-pink against the mask of iron.

Augustine shifted uncomfortably below the robes, sweat of her body drowned out by the smoke and soot emanating from her form. Field work was onerous as always. It was unproductive to dwell upon the merely physical, yet she felt uncharacteristically hesitant to contemplate her plans. But she could not afford to lose sight of the bigger picture. Her vengeance had been forestalled but this latest obstacle would fall like every other. She had come too far to fail now.

Her half-sister's forces had crumbled beneath the initial assault, but the arrival of the Interloper had halted their momentum completely. According to her scouts and telescopic observation, his power had grown considerably since he'd departed.

Was it a consequence of consuming the Opalescent Tower, or had Adorie's dreamt-for hero completed some monumental quest for strength? His Rank alone now brushed full Legions aside like dust from his linens. What abilities unrevealed could the Interloper boast in addition? The very prospect was unsettling.

Specifics mattered. His immunity to divination cast a pallor of uncertainty upon all her calculations. Even the minds of his companions were secured against the possibility of profile-building, and the Purple Bitch was properly immune!

For the first time in twelve years she felt the possibility of defeat looming. What mattered guile or adroitness in the face of such power, such sheer unfairness, as this?!

Augustine steadied herself, breathing deeply of the smoke that wreathed her. The taste of ash settled her mind and calmed her racing heart, as always. Her memories of the crucible were not dear to her, but they were familiar, and familiarity was the anchor of her vengeance.

From the age of eight she had ruled the greatest nation in the world with a fist of iron. She would neither falter nor yield. She would buy off the Interloper with the Armament her hostage, or banish him into a void beyond time, or catch his remaining companions in a trap, send him chasing phantasms and increase her leverage.

Even in the face of overwhelming power, there were always options. There was always a way forward, even if the path did not run straight. To disguise the form of her strength she'd invented Claumngor. To conceal the form of her weakness she'd created the Lord Protector. All things were possible with ingenuity and will.

She would delay, distract, obfuscate, demoralize, play dead - do whatever it took to buy time, then develop a solution to this latest challenge.

Never forget what they took from you.

The House of her father had paid in blood, Adorie the only innocent spared. But the clan of her mother was more culpable by far, and she could not rest until her siblings were avenged. It was regrettable that her father had slain himself before she could extract all pertinent information. Had he truly been ignorant, mere unwitting accomplice to her mother's experiments? A hapless genetic donor ensnared by her seduction?

Despite his faults she still wanted to forgive him, to make excuses for his ineptitude. As if her mere posture of good-will would somehow bring forth a parent that cared for her. As if that would alter the situation in any way.

It didn't matter anymore. She had had her vengeance on him. He was the past. She could only look forward now.

Forward, but her view was clouded by the Interloper's presence. Nothing for it but to work on further contingencies.

Spells to strengthen her Legions in case his strength was not truly insurmountable. Spells to conjure attendants to observe and ambush any companions undefended. Spells of layered protection, to shield her from all manner of power and displace her beyond his reach. Spells of illusion and concealment. Spells of destruction and disjunction. Spells of influence and contamination targeting vectors beyond the spirit and mind. Spells to stretch the moment, thread of time spun clean from the aether. Spells of noxious poison. Spells of virulent flame. Spells of impossible color. Spells of malice undying.

Smoke filled the chamber, ash and fibrous dust, bubbling molten steel as work after work emerged from her forge. Her power was to Build, shadow of a shadow that it was, and if her mind saw no path forward at least she could occupy her hands. Would it be enough?

She would not hope. Hope was the province of the powerless, the falsely-sweet daydream which sapped the will to action. The mighty had no need of hope. They simply enacted their designs.

The power of her father's blood was the abatement of all waning. The power of her mother's, was the very sorcery that once had raised the Walls of Myth. She was no trueblood, her awakened strength but a fraction of Adorie's potential, but some part of her was Foremost still, and no Interloper would stand against her vendetta, no matter how conveniently placed-

All at once she made the connection. The presence of a hostile Armament, the Interloper's impeccable timing, his improbable immunity to divination, the Purple Bitch's resemblance to her mother... She could scarce see the skeins, the barest outlines of the plot, but this was very possibly one of her mother's schemes.

Had the monster regained coherence enough to plot again? Was the Purple Bitch one of her avatars, steering the outcome towards her ends, breaking Augustine's grip on Nilfel so that the 'Lord Protector' could not consolidate all the Realm of Myth behind 'him'?

Despite herself, she smiled. If that were true, then her mother had finally acknowledged her as a threat. A worthy opponent.

Spin your wheels, monster. Stand against me if you dare. And if you dare not, then run and hide. It will all come to nothing in the end.

---

The winner was [X] Oblique Means with [X] Take Adorie. You've also purchased Undying Vanguard.

Hunger actually had to use a re-roll here to save Versch, Augustine almost decided to liquidate the Armament to empower herself during her prep. You have a few re-rolls left, but do not count on them! On the bright side, you rolled well with your re-roll and may choose the benefit of your summon:

[ ] Glimpse - Hunger receives IC information of the Lord Protector's interlude and may act accordingly.

Cost: the spark of one mind can be traded for another. Be glad that ingenuity is a renewable resource. [-2 Arete]

[ ] Shelter - An Astral being capable of shielding Verschlengorge from the Lord Protector's machinations for the span of twenty-four hours. Your hostage 'saved,' nothing now prevents you from Crushing Them, though his Legions will have received the benefits of his preparation. For all the Lord Protector's tricks, you judge it unlikely he can stand directly against 10.4 Blood and 9.4 Military Rank, else he would have simply crushed the rebellion without preamble, as Hunger himself could have.

Cost: it is no easy thing to hold back the tide, much less a tide of Iron. One day this being will call upon you to defend one thing it holds dear for the span of twenty-four hours, and you will not be able to deny them.

[ ] Might - To Might alone, is given, the power to decide who shall rule. A formidable Astral janissary will assist you in any task that does not involve directly rescuing Verschlengorge, providing enough firepower to hold back a Legion or neutralize a good percentage of the Lord Protector's magics. Hunger will be freed up to pursue other tasks, such as directly rescuing Verschlengorge, while his enemy is suppressed or his allies defended.

Cost: It just wants money. Lots and lots of platinum, enough to reduce your wealth to a mere fraction of its current level. As Verschlengorge was carrying most of your platinum, Adorie will have to pay it from her family treasury, impoverishing her temporarily.

---

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[Rihaku]

Phoenix Rising

The net of stars drew forth a being of whirling runes, sigils traced in translucent fire that writhed and spun around a disk of blazing gold. Into his mind it transmitted a facsimile of the information he sought, a recent scene from the Lord Protector's mind, and he felt a great exhaustion fall over him, cost and consequence of carrying his thoughts alongside as it pierced the veil of Augustine's protections.

Call upon This One should you wish to do business again, the being spoke in words of light across his vision, But take care, for the cost shall mount with every transaction. Be well, Praehihr.

The runes dipped once as if in genuflection, and then the being departed, winking out like the stars burning low, become dim embers before they faded into ash.

Hunger blinked. It seemed there were some perks to his Cursebearer status after all. Neither the Foremost armor nor their 'theme park agent' had recognized any privilege, but this Astral Entity had been respectful and accommodating.

Perhaps it was a simple matter of the intersection between power and knowledge. The Divinatory Entity was wise, but not mighty, in comparison to Hunger, while the Astral cat held the informational and physical advantage. It might behoove the former to enter the good graces of a Progression-type Cursebearer, while the latter was simply not concerned.

"What'd you learn?" Gisena asked, peeking over his shoulder at the charred remnants of the Divinatory Entity's earthly form.

"The Lord Protector is a child," Hunger frowned. "Or was, when she took power. Now she would be somewhere around Adorie's age. Her half-sister, skilled in some form of rune-based sorcery that gives her access to an enormous range of effects. She spends most of the time as a protoplasmic mass of immense physical strength, which explains why no one has caught on yet. And she is working to unite the Realm of Nilfel against a greater threat, her presumptive mother who is a descendent of the Foremost."

"Taking over the Realm of Myth from such a precocious age," Gisena tapped her chin. "If this information is accurate, she seems frightfully astute! We may be dealing with a rival genius, hun. I'm starting to think we picked the wrong side..."

"First a rival princess, now a rival genius? Many of our adventures have held up a dark mirror to me. I'm starting to think this one is intended for you."

"How bothersome. I'd hoped to return to the Manifest Realm for my side adventure! What do you think, hun? Should we attempt to break bread with this one as well and see the sisters reunited against their true hidden enemy?"

Hunger paused. The Lord Protector's armies had slain millions, but in her uncompromising pursuit of vengeance he saw an echo both of the Forebear and himself. The forces of the Forebear had conquered without limit, bringing entire universes to heel across their long march of eons, and he himself had committed to vengeance in the face of vastly easier alternatives. Was Augustine's mother dangerous enough to warrant the Forebear's tactics? He'd only had a glimpse, but it didn't seem entirely outside the realm of possibility.

"It's inconvenient, but we've given our word," Hunger replied. "We've no indication this mother is aware or a threat beyond Augustine's convictions, and she did not seem entirely stable. From what I saw, she lacks neither the ability nor the willingness to slay Verschlengorge for good, if properly prepared. Luckily she's spent much of the past hour layering magical protections in preparation for a direct fight. You may get your chance at a direct contest."

"The Sea of Nullity again?" Gisena asked. "I'm starting to think you enjoy the idea of rendering me unconscious!"

"It does shut you up for at least a brief span," Hunger commented dryly.

"Pretending you don't enjoy our little chats? Not very straightforward, your majesty! What would your beloved Forebear think?"

"He'd agree with me. We bomb her with your Ultimate and then cut her down. Simple, easy, efficient. If her magic's nullified she can't kill Versch, nor will she have the defenses to stop me in time. As long as you think you're up to it, else we'll have to come up with a backup plan."

"If you don't mind being denied the utility of my Ultimate Nullity for the next few weeks! However, if I release power enough to level her defenses, wouldn't that weaken the very Pressure you're relying on to prevail?"

Hunger considered for a moment. "It's possible. My direct power should still be greater, but I'm uncertain how wide the gap truly is when she's behind this many defenses. Nor would it be safe to separate us as we did against Stenallon. Our enemies are too quick, unguarded you could be slain before the Sea is even deployed."

"Don't compromise your plans on my account," Gisena batted her eyelashes at him. "Such is the cost of war!"

He clapped her on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, soldier! I didn't know you believed so strongly in the Nilfellian cause."

"Wheresoever my King leads, I shall strike forth with the utmost ardor!"

"Hmph. I'll hold you to that."

"Nights and weekends excluded, naturally!"

---

Aobaru gritted his teeth. He faced a group of marauders who had slipped into the hospital tents from an underground passageway. The Lord Protector's forces were tenacious and cunning, attacking from every angle even after Lord Hunger's arrival had broken the main thrust of their assault. Behind him whirled Sharpbright in scything currents, the bedridden Letrizia sending all the support she could from her supine position.

There were a few Knight-Captains stationed here, but none were hale; most sported injures from the crippling to the debilitating, as able-bodied men were sent to the front. He would have to do the majority of this on his own.

Aobaru leapt forward, firing off bursts of flame like vectoring jets as he closed in on the first aggressor. He was confident in his offense, but vulnerable to their long-range firepower. Once among them he would be far less exposed, but he had to control the angle of engagement so as not to endanger Letrizia!

Lord Hunger's Pressure rolled over the battlefield in punishing waves, smashing and disorienting any attackers remaining. To Aobaru it felt like being lifted atop a tsunami, but impervious to harm: only sheer swelling height and unstoppable momentum, uttermost high ground from which to fall upon one's enemies and leave only ruin behind.

Hunger grew in strength at a vertiginous pace. In the back of his mind Aobaru worried sometimes that any assassin which required Lord Hunger as a bodyguard would be too far beyond the Vigorflame for him even to interact with. But, he never allowed such doubts to dominate his reckoning. The Voyaging Realm had chosen him for a reason. His time would come, he was sure of it!

An arrow caught him in the shoulder, but bounced harmlessly off, its envenomed tip glinting obsidian in the fading light of dusk. Hunger's Pressure had thrown the attack backwards, but Aobaru couldn't count on every strike to be so fortunately repulsed.

He shook his head in self-recrimination. Nor could he afford to be lost in his own thoughts at a time like this! As Hunger often said, time enough later to dwell.

Firing his leg-jets once more, he corkscrewed around a second volley, leaving walls of Vigorflame in his wake to intercept any attacks pointed at Letrizia. He snatched an array of surgical tools from a nearby stand, juking behind a tentpole which he immediately reinforced with his Element. Attacks came and bounced off the ironwood; at the sound of an enemy's approach he kicked the pole forward and sent Vigorflame in a wave, detonating his cover in a blast of shrapnel as he hurled reinforced tweezers and scalpels into the ranks of the foe.

One half-blind assailant thrust with his spear, which Aobaru caught in his armpit, trapping the weapon and infusing it with flame. Modulating the course of his fire, he had the spear explode butt-end first, catching the enemy in a grisly vacuum as the weapon erupted like a mortar point-blank.

Aobaru was already moving, thoughts fluid and effortless, the trance of battle descending upon him as he whirled and dipped and sprang through the anarchy of war, hesitation absent as his flames reaped life after life. Was this it, the hidden power within, the strength to actually contribute to Lord Hunger's ventures as more than simple support?

It was not to be. A net fell over him, strands of oiled steel that resisted the influence of his Element, entangling and disabling him even as Hunger's Pressure once-more protected him from direct harm. He fell to the side as attackers poured in, this time from an Astral gateway bordered with runes.

Elites, men in carapace armor of shining violet and ivory, whose weapons dripped with emerald venoms or screaming soul-fire, the flared wings of their gilded helm embossed with the Lord Protector's personal crest. One man stabbed idly at Aobaru and departed after his weapon found no purchase. Hunger's next Pressure-wave came upon them, but they seemed almost prepared, hunching into defensive posture as a single shield-wall to ride out the onslaught; slowly establishing a beachhead whose rate of growth could withstand the idle attentions of the sea.

He couldn't let things go on like this. Desperately Aobaru looked inside for some scrap of insight, some Chosen-One spark that would lead him to victory in this dark hour.

There was nothing. No visions of glory, no hidden potential, no promise of power just waiting to be tapped... He was just, Aobaru, as he'd ever been.

The Voyaging Realm could have chosen anyone. Why had it chosen him? He was skilled but nothing special, straight out of high school with an above-average Element and a chip on his shoulder, and now in way over his head.

He clenched his teeth. None of that mattered. If they captured both Letrizia and the Armament, who knew what could happen?

He would just do what he could with what he had. If that wasn't up to the Voyaging standard, then so be it.

Time enough later to dwell.

Aobaru closed his eyes. He'd always been a kinetic Elementalist, using his Vigorflame in conjunction with his body to evade and deliver blows. His body was ensnared but he had his Element still. Why was he acting like he was helpless?

Pulling deeply from his reserves, he exploded forth with fire, a raging sea of flames to smother all troops in his vicinity. They turned as if to finish him, but he fired a column of flame downwards, the ground beneath, weakened by their sappers, yielding to his tunnel as it had their own. Acting swiftly, one elite broke off from the group to cut him down.

Aobaru could barely see, let alone move, but that mattered not. All he needed was for them to come to him.

The enemy was clever, kicking him onto his stomach to send their sword through his spine execution-style. They probably thought he was some sort of fire-based magus, who required at least line of sight to perform his spells.

As the tip of the blade contacted his skin he sent a flare of Vigorflame through it; the explosion rocked them both and spun Aobaru like a top. As soon as he was turned, flames issued from his eyes, twin columns scorching a hole through the man's torso the size of Aobaru's own head.

Propelling himself forward with fire along his back, he slammed into the Elite and launched them bodily into the midst of the enemy. Selective pulses of fire raced out, creating struts of reinforced air that his flame could push against to maneuver his body, serving as temporary limbs to re-position his form.

He closed his eyes and felt only the presence of his Element, rushing forth and receding like echolocation. Attackers piled on but their arms detonated, even runes of spellfire consumed by unending Vigorflame. He lashed out and rotated, a blinding wheel of flame, searing limbs from bodies, plate fusing to flesh before that all-eradicating heat.

The next wave of Hunger's Pressure hit, channeled by Sharpbright as if funneled through a dam, and the Nilfellian Elite broke at last.

To their credit, they did not rout, attempting an organized retreat, but it availed them little as The Chosen One scythed them down, smashed between the anvil of Lord Hunger and Aobaru's forge-flame.

---

What approach to take with the Lord Protector?

[ ] Diplomacy - Her mother, if she exists as a true threat, would undermine Adorie's rule as well. Given that Augustine seems primarily interested in vengeance, Hunger should at least make a sincere attempt at bringing her on-side. Surely one versed in Foremost lore would know well the value of a friendly Praehihr?

*The risks are obvious, but so are the potential benefits
*Will depend on tactics, rolls
*If talks fail or are rebuffed, Hunger will default to War, but Gisena may not be in ideal position.

[ ] War - Proceed with Gisena's ultimate and put an end to her. Strike now while the iron is hot. Her power is mounting higher with every preparation she makes.

*Less risky, but expends Gisena's ult for several weeks
*Still not a guaranteed win, but it's very likely, especially with Adorie to grant additional Refinement of Quickness uses. Protections that trigger too slowly to affect Hunger are as good as negated.

[ ] Write-In - Sufficiently novel and clever write-ins will receive an effectiveness boost.

---

Aobaru has learned his first lesson of mastery. What is the reward of resolve?

[ ] A Blazing Sun - It is not Rank that serves as measure of greatness; it is greatness itself which produces Rank. Born of the Voyaging Realm, invigorated of its waters, and set to his purpose by the Foremost themselves; is it any wonder that the Chosen One would be as a nexus in the Astral, a singularity by which the course of fate itself is bent?

Elevates Aobaru to Rank 6. Increases his rate of future Rank gain.

[ ] A Burning Spirit - The elemental surges command power beyond limit, but lack fluency of command. Not so for this Elementalist, whose gift and diligence are sufficient to attain microscopic control of both Vigor and Flame, seeing clear through to the truth beyond concept or Element, the Ideal itself made manifest at his will.

Grants surpassing control of Vigorflame, able to perform an extraordinary variety of feats beyond other Elementalists, elevating his personal buffs to levels capable of rivaling Hunger's own Attributes.

Vigorflame now grants +.1 ISH to Strength, Constitution and Dexterity, with further improvements according to future development.

++++++++++Aobaru Willpower, ++Aobaru Wisdom, ++Aobaru Intelligence, ++Aobaru Wits

[ ] An Awesome Power - The strength of the Elements is their raw incontestable might, and of all peoples is this talent greatest in the Chosen One. Strength enough to matter, no mere sea of flames but a universe pouring forth, primordial Fire in a tide without surcease.

Massively increases the amount and density of Vigorflame Aobaru can summon, while retaining the level of control demonstrated in this most recent episode.

Aobaru somewhat relevant against enemies capable of annoying Hunger. An enormous increase to the party's overall strength.

[ ] A Chosen Purpose [25 Arete] - Power is not granted to one who was chosen. Rather, one is chosen, who is most suitable to the task. Out of all the countless trillions residing within its expanse, one was deemed capable of restoring the Realm to glory.

Grants the benefit of all options above, and massively increases their effects. For example, A Burning Spirit now grants +.3 ISH to physical Attributes.

Aobaru now capable of rivaling Hunger himself on the battlefield, and stronger in certain matchups. [++Aobaru]

A small but manageable number of Apocryphal procs will now target Aobaru instead. Barring catastrophically bad rolls, he will take care of them himself. ++Aobaru Progression.

---

You didn't even need Undying Vanguard for Aobaru to survive, he rolled exceptionally well - a 98 out of 100!

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[Rihaku]

Fear Itself

Aobaru arrived, carrying Letrizia, as they made final deliberations for the attack. Hunger's glimpse had afforded only a brief examination of the Lord Protector's defenses, and they were at this moment hoping only that Gisena's ultimate would suffice to negate the majority of them, or for the raw power of Hunger's unleashed Pressure to carry the day.

"What happened?" Hunger asked, taking in the bedraggled appearance of his squire. Letrizia grumbled and shifted out of Aobaru's arms, gingerly leaning on one leg as she stood barely supported by his shoulder.

"We got attacked," she said. "The hospital staff told us you were busy summoning something, and the Lord Protector took the window to capture another one of us. It was pretty intense for a moment there."

"But," she conceded with a sigh. "Aobaru saved the day. What a freakishly powerful Element... even my Sharpbright apparently can't compete."

"I made a breakthrough," Aobaru conceded, "But it definitely wasn't my effort alone! Your Pressure did a lot of the work, Hunger, Letrizia, even if Hunger wasn't actively using it. With what I've learned, I should be able to augment you more extensively now. Anyway, how did the summoning go? Are we ready to stage an attack on the LP?"

"There's no need to downplay your achievements," Hunger clapped Aobaru on the free shoulder. "It sounds like you had it rough. I should have anticipated that Augustine would try something like this, especially given her actions against Verschlengorge."

"Augustine?" Aobaru asked.

"The Lord Protector is Adorie's half-sister," Gisena explained. "Concealed beneath a sorcerous shroud! Apparently she was the daughter of the previous King as well as a Foremost remnant. She wields a fragment of Foremost sorcery itself. I'm interested to see how my Nullity will fare against it..."

"I wouldn't bet against Miss Gisena," Aobaru said sheepishly. "That's pretty wild. What does Adorie think about all this?"

"We're still trying to decide on the best way to tell her," Gisena said. "Rank is so vulnerable to one's spirit and emotions, and if her resolve were to falter at this crucial juncture..."

"Nah," Aobaru shook his head. "That girl's strong. She wouldn't give up at a revelation like this."

"So certain!" Gisena raised an eyebrow. "What brought on such absolute conviction, Sir Vigorflame? Or are you perhaps simply speaking from the heart?"

"Um," Aobaru replied, a shade too calmly, "I just have a good eye for this sort of thing. End of the day, the LP's still a tyrant, isn't she? I think the Princess is an idealist at heart, and pretty level-headed. She'll be able to separate her feelings for her sister from the reality of the Lord Protector's policies. This war's already claimed so many lives, there's no other path but forward."

Gisena hummed contemplatively, a sly smile adorning her features, but deigned not to tug any further on that thread.

Hunger coughed.

"Loath as I am to leave you kids exposed again," he said, "We're still going to need you to hold the flanks while Gisena, Adorie and I strike at Augustine's redoubt. You should still be in range of my Pressure which will mitigate most of the risk, so fight aggressively unless you encounter an enemy of my level or greater. In that case, flee immediately."

"You got it, Lord Hunger!" Aobaru saluted. "We'll hold down the fort, unless we have to bravely run away."

"See that you do a better job than last time," Hunger deadpanned. "The hospital was a great feat. What preceded it, not quite. I hope to return once without our allied Legions in disarray."

Aobaru coughed. "I wouldn't count on that, Hunger. Keep the LP occupied and we'll see what we can do, otherwise these guys are pretty much screwed against her."

"Please bring Versch back," Letrizia asked, wincing as she stood forward, putting pressure on her injured leg. "He's... my family has given so much to defend our partnership with him. Every Artriez has returned him in good stead to the keeping of the House. If I fail now, I..."

"We'll save Versch." Hunger nodded. "That's priority number one."

---

Trudging through the despoiled waste of the Lord Protector's defenses was a thoroughly unpleasant affair, thundering waves and sickening pulses of spellfire raining down upon them. His Pressure sufficed to mitigate the damage, but not entirely, as both he and Gisena were conserving their energy in lead-up to her ultimate. What modest damage they took was quickly repaired thanks to his Ring, its supernal force sufficient to overwhelm the host of exotic conditions that accompanied Augustine's spells.

Adorie lent her Rank to his own, buttressing their aegis of spiritual will, but the spatially-warped mire was still a tedious slog, and terminally dangerous were it not for his overwhelming might.

It galled him that he had no recourse but simple strength against this opponent, whose finesse and treachery so comprehensively exceeded his own; but if brute force were the most efficient path to victory, he could hardly turn his back. It was almost enjoyable to be the stronger party for a change, conflict so much smoother than the desperate contests against Vanreir, Seralize or the wizened magus of the Outer Temple. All foes mightier than him, laid low by scheming and tactics. Hunger just had to take care not to assume their mantle against the underdog treachery of his opponent.

Cutting through the territory of their enemy's strength did lend one advantage, however: there was plenty of time for Adorie to come to terms with her half-sister's existence. Luckily the enemy Legions were no more than a strong distraction in the face of his strength, the Ring of Blood alone sufficing to bring them to their knees. Hearts palpitated uncontrollably as blood fluxed and congealed, reeling from the scorn of the Ring its ruler. At close range it was a mostly non-lethal means of dispatching the Legions, which allowed Hunger to fulfill Adorie's request for mercy without overmuch slowing their pace.

"My sister..." Adorie clutched her dress with almost archetypical concern, petite brow furrowed as she took in the news. It was at times still disconcerting to witness the storybook mannerisms of Nilfellian royalty, so graceful and proper that one questioned - whether the Realm of Myth was not the true reality, and the outside world merely its fallen reflection.

"I suppose it would be too much to ask that you spare her as well, Hunger? I cannot begin to understand the tortures she must have gone through to become what she now is. But, I understand if you consider her too dangerous to be left alive."

"I'll defer to our anti-magic specialist on that matter," Hunger said, "But the default stance is that she will be slain, yes."

Adorie's lip quivered, but she nodded slowly in resolution. "...All right. She is the last of my blood but me, but it was by her own hand that such came about. I wish there was more we could do for her..."

"The only way would be to exploit her vendetta against her mother," Gisena commented. "If she's sincere, then she should be willing to turn over power to us in exchange. We'd need some way to enforce the agreement. But, there's no reason to provoke an even stronger magus than Augustine, especially one that hasn't directly influenced the Realm at large. For all we know her mother is still sleeping even now."

"Augustine's thoughts mentioned strongly the resemblance between yourself and her mother," Hunger mused. "Perhaps the Foremost were connected somehow with the Maiden? If so, it bodes well for our chances. It's unlikely that your Nullity would be powerless against her magics in that event."

"But also possible that she's devised a countermeasure," Gisena pointed out. "Such interactions work both ways!"

"That would be disastrous," Hunger said. "If your Sea of Nullity strips me of the Cloak and much of my Rank, but leaves her unaffected, we might actually fall here."

Gisena summoned a ribbon of Nullity, tracing it gauzily with one finger about in the air. "Don't worry about that, silly. I'll just have to develop a countermeasure to her countermeasure! "

At last they reached the border of Augustine's inner dominion, the simple command tent now elevated atop a foreboding pillar, column of earth upthrust from the swamp around and fissured with seams of azure and gold. The Cloak of Sky writhed and snapped, bristling before the form of its nemesis: stone to its air, depth to its void.

The senses swam before that impossible tower, its fell radiance swarming mind and spirit. Augustine's forces dwelt in the corners of the real, their might sufficient to rend soul and sanity; yet he was the envoy of a greater power still, before which even such terrors as this were less than motes in the breeze. He flared the Ring of Crimson, bright burning Blood which brought mere Passion to heel, and even fear itself could naught but yield before its fury.

---

The winner was [X] War with [X] A Burning Spirit.

The time has come. Determine one strategy to face the Lord Protector. All tactical determinations are Hunger's own estimate; the actual capabilities of the Lord Protector may affect the viability of any given plan.

[ ] Cut Through - Penetrate as far as you can before Gisena detonates the Sea of Nullity; the closer to the epicenter the Lord Protector is, the more her effects will be caught by the Nullity. Risky, but has the best chances of an uncomplicated kill once it goes off. It's important to neutralize any spatial displacement effects that could allow Augustine to evade the reach of Hunger's blade or banish Versch to some unknown plane. The Refinement of Quickness would be an imperfect counter to such techniques.

[ ] Slow and Methodical - There's no need to risk things with a hasty assault. The Lord Protector has had subjective hours, possibly even days, to assemble her defenses; if she had decided to liquidate Versch the deed would already be done. Cut down the Tower of Earth with the Artful Thorn and work with Gisena to disassemble as many of the Lord Protector's effects as is practical before charging in. It should only be the work of a few minutes to tear down her preparations of hours. Would potentially leave you open to any sorceries that require your direct presence to enact and minutes, rather than seconds, to do so.

[ ] Quick but Methodical - As above, but use the Refinement of Quickness to substantially hasten the destruction of her preparations. Exhausting, but even a badly drained Hunger should be more than a match for an un-prepared Augustine. ...Right?

*A strategy that is unlocked by Adorie's presence
*Just because it's conditional, doesn't mean it's strictly better than the other options!
*That said, it would be pretty nice to deal with Augustine's defenses without knocking Gisena out or giving the Lord Protector yet more time (with which she might conjure up even more time) to do things.

[ ] Absorb the Tower of Earth [12 Arete, if successful] - Is this really the time for this? Not guaranteed to work.

*Just imagine what the Cloak could be, with earth and sky both bent to your dominion!
*Unlocks a mystery effect as well as one of the following: Immediately gain two Emypreal Signs, Triple the Protection offered by the Cloak, or strongly upgrade the Supreme Enclosure ability (Supreme Enclosure -> Bring To Heel). It is otherwise rarely practical to acquire upgraded versions of Empyreal Signs, which can in some respects match - or even exceed - the glories of the Royal Praxis in the field of magic.
*Tactics and/or omake power can somewhat strengthen your odds of successful assimilation
*You'd still need to deal with her other defenses afterwards, but maybe after such a show of force Augustine would consider giving up or offering reasonable terms!
*If you fail, who knows what could happen? Well, Augustine probably has some idea.
*Is this... bait?
*Still kinda tempting

---

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